Column: Cellphones in prison pose threat, but there is a solution

Tuesday

Nov 5, 2019 at 4:15 AM

Residents of Ohio are at a serious risk while contraband cellphones remain in the hands of inmates. This threat has only become more prominent since incarcerated individuals started using more complex tactics, like drones, to acquire contraband. Video footage was released recently showing an inmate at the Cuyahoga County Jail catching a package dropped from the sky, which later was revealed to include a cellphone.

Contraband phones have been used to plan attacks, sneak weapons into facilities and threaten the general public. Technology that can stop this problem, known as wireless containment systems, is already available. It is up to the state of Ohio to implement these lifesaving technologies before more people are hurt or killed.

As a former Department of Corrections captain at Lee Correctional Facility in South Carolina, I experienced firsthand the danger of contraband cellphones within facilities. In 2010, I survived an attempted murder that was ordered by an inmate using one of these very devices.

Throughout my time at the Lee Correctional Facility, I was responsible for finding and intercepting any contraband entering the prison. One specific package I intercepted, full of illegal drugs and contraband cellphones, was originally intended to be sold for tens of thousands of dollars. It was this interception that prompted an inmate to use another contraband phone to organize a hit on my life.

Only a few months later, someone broke into my home and shot me six times. It’s only by the grace of God that I’m still alive today.

Fast forward nearly 10 years and the threat of contraband cellphones has not only remained, it has gotten exponentially worse. Inmates are continuing to find new ways to smuggle cellphones and other contraband into prisons. We see this not only in Ohio, but in states like North Carolina and Alabama, where the use of drones to smuggle contraband has become increasingly prevalent.

These cellphones have been — and continue to be — used in a number of different harmful and threatening ways.

Along with serving as a currency behind bars, they are commonly used as tools to plan crimes including violent attacks and smuggling of narcotics and weapons into prisons. Inmates also frequently use these phones to harass victims of domestic violence and intimidate witnesses from behind bars.

In North Carolina, a 63-year-old man and father of a prosecutor was kidnapped and extorted thanks to a contraband cellphone. In Oklahoma, a convicted criminal was able to run a multistate drug ring that generated anywhere between $250,000 to $1 million each week in revenue. Others across the country have used cellphones to terrorize a rape victim, extort the girlfriend of an inmate and prey on vulnerable populations by posing as financial institutions asking for money.

In perhaps the most horrifying case of all, a 9-month-old baby in Georgia was shot and killed as retaliation against his uncle in a gang dispute. The murder was orchestrated from a prison cell using a contraband phone.

Correctional facilities in the state of Ohio have an opportunity to prevent these types of tragedies by implementing advanced technology designed to detect and stop unauthorized cellphones. Specifically, these wireless containment systems create a private cellular network that allows only authorized numbers to access carrier networks or connect calls. With this technology, corrections staff members have the ability to not only prevent illegal and dangerous activity, but to identify and confiscate contraband phones.

We can’t afford to put any more lives in danger from cellphones ending up in the hands of inmates. The solution is here, and it is up to Ohio to take action.

Robert Johnson is a former corrections officer from the Lee Correctional Facility. He is an advocate for technology that can detect and disable contraband cellphones in prisons.

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